Thursday, July 29, 2010

A staple of any convention whether it be Star Trek, Horror or Comic Book; you throw a salute to nerdery in any form and they will come with cardboard strapped across their gutts and a song in their heart. Some take it very seriously, creating a spectacle of sound and light they activate with a rip cord placed precariously near their buttocks. Some just have 5 dollars, access to their dad's garage and a dream of being the most brilliant transformer a roll of duct tape can create. Some costumes, like the infamous metal bikini, are so sexy they made nerds convulse as the ladies walk by. That same costume in the hands of a woman who fills it out like pop-n-fresh dough pressed up against a fence on a hot summer's day combine to create an image forever burned into your memory. You can't unsee that. From the army of Harley Quinns looking for their Mr. J to the Anime child wearing a simple set of cat ears, Japanese school uniform and a sign demanding you hug her IMMEDIATELY even thought your court documents state you must stay 100 feet from such things...we, the children of Idle Hands Salute YOU. CLICK HERE to swim through the 50 or so pics of those wonderful people in costume.

Shocker Toys continues to be the little engine that got their product into Toys R mother fucking Us!! That's no small feat. The Indie Spotlight line made heads turn with figures like The Maxx and Scud, the Disposable Assassin because, frankly, who else would make those figures?! The pieces themselves turned out great, cementing the company as champions of those beloved (but not loved enough for toys before) comic titles. Now with a newly found burst of retailer support, Shocker moves forward with more comic heroes and villains from current titles and classic comic strips. Idle Hands shot the place up and came away with plenty of eye candy...

INDIE SPOTLIGHT continues to swell its ranks with 6 inch action figures of characters like The Phantom, Flash Gordon, The Heap, Grendel and Zoro.

MALLOWS are Shocker's new stylized figure line, boasting more articulation than most others on the market and a body that begs for customization. Licenses like One Piece and Soul Eater assure them a legion of Anime loving kids to snap up the product.

Bif Bang Pow are wish masters. We said "Dear Lord, Please bring us Flash Gordon action figures in our life time and if you've got some cosmic power left over after that, I'd just about kill in your name for a line of Big Lebowski toys." And lo, the Bif Bang happened and a booming voice came from a gargantuan bobble head bellowing WISH GRANTED. ...and it was good.

NOW Bif Bang Pow take San Diego Comic Con by storm with a host of pop culture properties in formats you'll die for. Here's the run down...

VENTURE BROTHERS were a risky proposition. Big Bang said..if you buy them...we'll make more! Well apparently, you bought em! Get ready for more Venture Adventure on the way with new additions to the MEGO-esque line including Dr. Orpheus and The Phantom Limb!!! I also wanted to make a quick note that you can still get Henchmen 21 and 24 from Entertainment Earth so HURRY and snap em up before they are gone.

TWILIGHT ZONE lines continue with innovative bobble heads, full size props to creep you out and those lovable MEGO-rific dolls commemorating your favorite Black and White moments with the characters who made them special.

LOST may have said their final goodbyes but BBP are only getting started on their toy domination of the ominous island. PLASTIC SHALL RULE YOU SMOKE MONSTER!! Which of course begs the question..How DOES one make a smoke monster action figure? SCIENCE!!

DEXTER may not have a lot on tap figure wise at the moment, but that doesn't mean he gets no plastic love. Check out the newest figure to wield the tools of the code and gasp as you realize a Dexter action figure (namely the Dark Avenger) will soon be a Toys R Us exclusive??!!

MOVIES have always been a staple of the BBP product and this year, there is still plenty to come. Flash Gordon, The Big Lebowski and Beastly step up to the plate while Kenny Powers of Eastbound and Down takes a swing at bobble head victory. And then there's Scott Ian...cuz who doesn't want Anthrax action figures?

And just because they were also in the Entertainment Earth booth as well, we shot up Spectre Toys' brilliant Dark Shadows line in all its MEGO-tastic glory. Enjoy!!

Wednesday, July 28, 2010

We have a winner. I think that everyone can agree that Mattel showed the most new toys out of all the toy companies appearing at San Diego Comic Con this year. They had SO MUCH, they saved a ton of them for after their panel, causing us brave toy shooting soldiers to head back into the crowded trenches once more for a second round of shooting....and damn it was worth it! NEW Justice League Unlimited, new Retro-Action Figures, new DC Universe Classics and new Masters of the Universe toys that will make you a convert to the Matty plastics program. Here's what you'll find in the bottomless Idle Hands Flickr...

MASTERS OF THE UNIVERSE expands their universe by leaps and bounds with army builders, giant Shadow Beasts, Snake Men and more testosterone than a normal human company could fit into the average line of action figures, leading me to believe that Mattel is run by evil wizards. Just a theory. Still needs work.

JUSTICE LEAGUE UNLIMITED keeps on going, despite a fat hike in the price of single figures at Target. The solution? THREE PACKS!! Plenty of new heroes and villains we've been whining for coming to the pegs in the near future, so put aside some cash in a Mattel fund and prepare for the onslaught. (side note Mattel: I still want a do-over on the Thanagarian and Bwana Beast multi packs!!)

DC UNIVERSE CLASSICS 6 inch action figures continues to WOW with no-brainer characters like Jonah Hex and Robin to surprises like The Creeper! Upcoming waves go heavy on the Green Lantern for obvious reasons with one branch covering the boys in green who fight the good fight and another with the yellow Sinestro Corps lying in wait, ready to cleanse the universe. We'll also be getting a little dose of Blackest Night!DC UNIVERSE CLASSICS PART 2 (you get the idea)

DC RETRO-ACTION FIGURES bringing MEGO-esque dreams to life. The original MEGO line of action figures with cloth outfits was severely lacking in bad guys, so Mattel is looking to change all that right out of the gate. New additions like Captain Cold, Darkseid and Cheetah will make collectors scramble to pick up the pieces they missed, now that they are positive the universe will be growing leaps and bounds in the next year!

12 INCH MOVIE MASTERS began with a man called ZOD (which I still need if anyone out there wants to hook a brother up) and now continues with the original super boyscout from the movie no one will ever forget.

BATTLE FORCE 5 gives Hot Wheels a little more power in the front end and a little less junk in the trunk! Yea, I don't know what I'm saying either. They race..they fight..there's a cartoon. The kiddies think it's bitchin. They still say that word, don't they? I'm sure of it.

WILD GRINDERS are wacky little skateboard dudes with their own cartoon...doing wacky things with a zany dog and..umm..adventures!! Yeaaa...I know next to nothing about this line but ...LOOK! SKATE BOARDS!!

BATMAN: BRAVE AND THE BOLD crank out characters we never thought we'd see in a kid's show with these odd octagonal holes in their arms and legs allowing you to peg in weapons creating SUPER MEGA JOKER and such!! They've also got the little mini stylized figures I'd own a billion of if they were just a leeeeeeettle cheaper.

MONSTER HIGH may look like Bratz dolls creeped up for the Hot Topic crowd, but the show is very tongue in cheek, reminiscent of Elvira and The Crypt Keeper in the 90's. These are truly the bastard children of the Universal Monsters who wear pinks and purples to make their parents shriek in terror. What scares the real monsters? MONSTER HIGH! Diabolical...and a bit genius.

GENERATOR REX is about a dude who can turn his body into weapons of destruction to battle monsters threatening to eat babies and Scarlet Johansson! OH NOEZ!! Yeaaa I don't know much about this one either (shocking there's a cartoon I haven't watched, yea?) but the monsters look like Mike Mignola creations, so I'm in.

DC UNIVERSE INFINITE HEROES is an odd duck amid all the DC Comics plastics coming at us by the truck load. They are Star Wars sized with fair sculpting and just the basic articulation, reminding me of the Pocket Heroes line from my youth. This was all fine and good until a price hike shut me out of the line. Honestly, I've got more than enough to buy already, so a line like this has to have the sweetest of price tags to urge me on. At any rate, the tiny DC Universe keeps building with singles and multi packs on the way.

BARBIE is something I must cover, because a good 50% of the nerds who demand my attention have breasts (the female kind), and when I tell them about Joan Jett and I Dream of Jeanie Barbies they can own and brush the hair of, they want to kiss me...and that is good. On the way are new additions from classic TV shows like Dallas and Bewitched, a tiny vampire movie called Twilight and a little retro-cable show called Mad Men. Barbielicious!

SCORE!! We here at Idle Hands/ Dread Central Labs are always so busy covering the furthest corners of San Diego Comic Con that we never have even seen the inside of Hall H, or any hall for that matter. Chilling out in LA after the show allows us the time to watch the panels via friendly geeky websites who record such things. Now, Paramount offers up their own video so YOU TOO can watch all the awesome moments in the Marvel Movies Panels. Let's watch together, united as Marvel Zombies. Joy.

We've been inundated with all the news for marvel movies coming out of San Diego Comic Con (and I'll inundate you some more in a few minutes with some more awesome video) but what of the new Avengers animated series? Marvel answers the call for cartoony greatness and offered up this brandie new trailer just for you. I was on the fence and forced myself to only half believe Joe Q when he told me this new cartoon would blow my doors off. After all, he's one with the mouse now!! Well...damn..see for yourself!!!

Color me psyched. Featuring IRON MAN, THOR, CAPTAIN AMERICA and THE HULK! When the planet is threatened by Super Villains, time traveling conquerors, alien invaders, mythical monsters or mad robots bent on the total destruction of humanity, when the forces of evil are so overwhelming that no single hero has the power to save the world, when there is no hope left…the AVENGERS ASSEMBLE! All-new The Avengers: Earth’s Mightiest Heroes animated series from Marvel Animation premiering on Disney XD this fall!

Tuesday, July 27, 2010

This year's San Diego Comic Con was surprisingly light on the new offerings to the toy gods, with many items being things we'd seen at NY International Toy Fair. Hasbro, however, had plenty of new plastics from Marvel, G.I.Joe, Transformer and Star Wars Universes....but what of the My Little Ponies??!! Even Mattel acknowledged the power of girlie toys with an entire case dedicated to Barbie this year, but alas, there were only a couple of little Ponies representing the entire pastel colored Pony race this year, even though the bro had a Pony exclusive on sale. Interesting! At any rate, we stormed the Hasbro fences, body checked our way to the front of the cases and shot like we didn't have a girl to touch in the foreseeable future...all to bring those beautiful pics of shiny plastics to you. Here's the rundown...

Brought to you by Lori DeVirgilio of the multi national DeVirgilio Corporation and Nerd Rapist Association.

At San Diego Comic Con this year there seemed to be something missing in most of the updates I have seen and that was…COMICS! The show’s focus has been more Hollywood and less about the origin of these great characters. Don’t get me wrong; I’m really happy to see a hobby of mine that I have had since I was 12 become “trendy” but what about the damn books!? Reading is fundamental….isn’t it?? Apparently the creators themselves were so swept up in the Hollywood hubbaloo that they neglected to tell us anything useful in the panels that revolved around the books themselves. During the Marvel writer’s panel they showed a few pictures of upcoming storylines which were either obvious in content or teasers to things that they were going to announce “next week”. NEXT WEEK?!? This is San Diego fucking comic con...this is your largest audience.

One of the first photos was of Hulk wrestling with Red Hulk. Ooohhh breaking news. Really?!? After the discovery that Red Hulk aka Rulk (Spoiler) is actually “Thunderbolt” Ross they are going to make them fight?? Really? Wow that was a shocker. Sarcasm doesn’t translate well on this forum. Rulk will be joining the ranks of the Avengers in issue #7.

They also announced that the Big Three are going to have a book together. This was actual news. They hinted that Iron Man, Steve Rogers (former Captain America) and Thor are going to have a journey that will not be set in the present time line. Written by Loeb and McGuinness.

After the current arch Nova is on in space they will be taking a hiatus from the Guardians of the Galaxy. There are future plans for the characters but none at the present other than Rocket Raccoon who will be getting his own miniseries. Cosmic Avengers is also on it’s way.

Also on the way is a new X-book called “Generation Hope” that focuses on Hope’s life with the x-men without her mentor/foster father Cable. She will be fighting along side the Five Lights who are five newly indentified Mutants who are the first lights on Cerebra since M-Day. It will also forge a closer bond between Rogue and Hope. There is some hidden connection between these two characters but no info on what that might be as of yet. Sisters perhaps?

Marvel also announced that the “Green Ladies” are coming back into the fold. They didn’t specify who they are but with my fingers crossed it will be She-Hulk who has been quiet this year since her solo title was cancelled. I really hope they don’t pit her against her red counterpart. It would be a mirrored storyline to the all too obvious direction the Hulk solo series is already heading.

One of my biggest gripes with Marvel is the upcoming vampire tie-ins. The company is extremely excited about this arch and stated that the vampires are going to be a big staple in the Marvel Universe in years to come. I guess they are trying to jump on the bandwagon and hope that the Twi-hards will buy their books. The Focus of the arch is Dracula who appears to be killed by his son Xarus in order to retell Dracula stories with a new perspective aka redundancy. Who cares! Keep these mediocre stories in a mini series instead of letting this garbage pollute the few books I still actually enjoy. Mutants already have powers….why do they need to be vampires also. The only time that premise was readable was in Uncanny X-men annual #6. It wasn’t riveting enough to warrant it being rewritten. The ONLY thing worth posting about is the rumor that Jubilee is going to be re-powered...and that’s only news if you are the one person on the planet who doesn’t find her character irritating.

The biggest news revolves around the new “Man Without Fear”. After the current run of the “Shadowland” series there will definitely be a new man without fear announced. The peeps at Marvel showed some possible choices with adjoining teaser art of characters: Nova, Gambit, Kraven, Black Panther and Falcon. My money is on Falcon. His character needed to be dusted off a bit and the other characters are staples in their own solo series or active in collaboration titles. Falcon is also the only person who is in desperate need of a reboot. I mean he has telepathic connection with birds? Yeah he isn’t really useful. He needs to be butched up in order to fit in with the Marvel Knight titles.

Lastly they posted these two images. As a huge marvel fan I literally have no idea what these could be. The panel of writers at the Cup of Joe discussion stated that it was a big deal. The rest of the panels were dedicated to fan questions that not relevant to any upcoming storyline.

So there you have the Marvel update from SDCC. Most of the information was leaked a few days prior on the trusty interweb. The rest was really pointless. Let’s hope the big announcements the week AFTER comic con make more of an impact on us rabid fans and give us something to actually geek out over.

Monday, July 26, 2010

DC Direct/ DC Unlimited action figures, collectibles, busts and statues are located deep in the heart of the DC Comics booth...which means a toy hunter needs to fight his way to the center of the geek scrum in order to take in all that manufactured awesome...and worse still...a geek reporter looking to shoot the lot has to get smacked in the head at LEAST 15 times in order to properly shoot the lower cases...which most of them are. I braved such a gauntlet and risked permanent head trauma to bring back these drool-worthy pics, so make sure you show your buddies and make it worth my loss of my 1982 memories! On tap right now..

INSANITY. Zack Snyder is a go-to guy. He makes something and we watch it. It's a simple equation. He hasn't let me down yet and if the eye candy just posted for Sucker Punch is any indication, he NEVER WILL. Sure, he once told me the perspective on the back of my old business card with Optimus Prime fighting Batman was off so Optimus would never hit Batman and thus..stalemate...but I can't hold that against him! (Batman would win, FYI) My love for 300 and Watchmen over rides any attempted direction of my dorkiness. And now...there's the new teaser! Click the art to dive in.

“Sucker Punch” is an epic action fantasy that takes us into the vivid imagination of a young girl whose dream world provides the ultimate escape from her darker reality. Unrestrained by the boundaries of time and place, she is free to go where her mind takes her, but her incredible adventures blur the lines between what’s real and what is imaginary…with potentially tragic consequences.

San Diego Comic Con is quickly becoming a blurry monolith in my rear view mirror but we've got TONS of awesome geekery still on the way. You may have already seen the giant Odin throne from the upcoming Thor movie erected at the show in the Marvel booth, but few realized that the door above had a function. On Sunday, we got to see what was behind Asgardian mystery door number 1! During our interviews at the show (coming soon) it seemed as if the crew were reluctant to call him by name, but Sunday, he stood glimmering for all to see. Behold...the DESTROYER!! Pretty killer armor I didn't think would translate well to film but damn if that isn't one bad ass bad guy for the Norse God of Thunder to go head to head with.

So what else are we in for in the movie? How about Frost Giants, Loki's magic, a larger SHIELD presence and a head to head, all out, hand to hand (and medieval weapon to medieval weapon) clash between Thor and Loki in the finale! This movie looks EPIC. We'll bring you more on that soon, I promise.

As a bonus, we also snagged a pic of Captain America's movie shield and Paramount sent over some art for the films we didn't have a chance to debut since we were buried under the SDCC avalanche. Enjoy and try not to drool on the keyboard!

You asked for it for years...and now its coming...in 3D!!! The evil scientist who fulfilled our dreams with Batman XXX is back with more porn wish fulfillment. Tears of joy to follow.

Award-winning director Axel Braun announced today that he has started pre-production on Star Wars XXX: A Porn Parody, to be exclusively distributed by adult powerhouse Vivid Entertainment. The ambitious project will mark Vivid's first foray into the increasingly popular 3D format, and is set for release in September 2011.

"I really want to take my time on this one," explains Braun. "Every detail needs to be exactly right, and I want to make sure the legions of fans of the original movies are not disappointed."

"Axel definitely knows how to please the fans" said Steven Hirsch, Founder/Co-chairman of Vivid. "His attention to detail, and his respect for the source material put his parodies in a class by themselves, and we are absolutely thrilled to distribute another one of his outstanding productions."

With his record-breaking Batman XXX: A Porn Parody now claiming the top spot in the sales charts for the seventh consecutive week, and the upcoming Superman XXX: A Porn Parody shooting in August, Braun is happily celebrating his 20th year in the industry with a slew of high-profile projects that are sure to keep all the fans happily entertained for quite a while.

Of all the show exclusives, this was by far my favorite...even if only for laughs since I'm damn near allergic to everything and this might have had me sneezing like Erkel. The mad men who decided the world needed fragrances inspired by our favorite Star Trek bad asses unleashed an exclusive at the show so powerful, your only response would be "OH MY!" Its called Sulu Pour Homme and the fragrance itself was labeled "Excelsior" after the ship he captained. Limited to only 300 pieces at San Diego Comic Con; this scent was destined to sell out fast, and we hear it did just that! Also at the booth we saw a new fragrance labeled "Shirtless Kirk" which followed with the catch phrase "Set phasers to stunning." Genius.

August 3rd, your favorite real life super heroes will be ready to come home with you on DVD and Blu-ray in KICK-ASS, so to celebrate, the Lionsgate crew printed up a giant Blu-ray cover and cut a whole where Mr.Cage should have been, allowing you to BECOME THE CAGE!!! "Stick your face in the hole and be propelled into a world of danger, suspense, bloody noses and flying body parts."That was the promise from LG reps and a few brave souls stepped up to meet the challenge. Lionsgate sent over some random pics of the fun, including a cameo from Darth Maul, who stated "I'm so bad ass, I will stand BESIDE the packaging, thus enhancing its value 10 fold. You're puny packaging can not contain me otherwise." We concede the point.

Saturday, July 24, 2010

1. Jackass 3D looks RIDICULOUS!! Imagine, if you will, a portable crapper attached to a giant bungee launcher. In it, is Steve O. The cord is pulled and off he goes into the air. When the cords go tight, all the poo flys up in the air, in slow motion, in 3D...and into Steve O's mouth. Amazing. All new stupid human tricks and a world of PAIN with the boys you love coming soooon...and right at you if you pay the extra cash for 3D-ification. More on that soon.

2. Gentle Giant has SUCKER PUNCH product releasing alongside the film and it looks killer, as we would expect from the GG crew and anything from the mind of Zach Snyder. I assure you, we've got the best pics of the line, so dive right in.

3. MARVEL UNIVERSE marches on with all new tiny titans. See the future NOW!!

Thursday, July 22, 2010

Managed to squeeze in some quality time with the toys yesterday and cut time off of sleeping to process and post some to the Flickr account, so HAPPY BIRTHDAY!! Right now there is plenty of eye candy to kick off your San Diego Comic Con watching party from afar. Here's a run down of what you can see...

Mattel: Masters of the Universe Classics featuring all the He-Man madness you could ask for, past, present and future, including a public service Mattel is providing for the unwashed masses this year...MOSS MAN DEODORANT!!!

Mattel: DC Universe Infinite Heroes brings the DC Comics world in a size allowing you to do battle against the forces of G.I Joe. LEVEL THE PLAYING FIELD! More characters..more 3 packs..more 6 packs..more awesome.

Hasbro: Marvel Legends! Yes..there are more 6 inch figures on the way via new two packs and we've got pretty pretty pictures to prove it.

Jun: NEW Ball Jointed dolls from the masters from across the water. Steam Punk Anyone?

Available for pre-order and at launch, a Collectors Edition of DC Universe Online will be available for PC only, and includes a statue of the Batman, concepted by reknowned comic book artist/executive creative director for the game, Jim Lee. The statue depicts the Dark Knight leaping from a building, ready to rain justice down on evildoers. The Collectors Edition also includes a limited edition Art of DCUO book, which includes 56 pages of the art, information on the making of the game and insight on some of the iconic characters players will encounter, plus a limited edition DC Universe Online: Legends Issue #0 comic, written by Tony Bedard (Green Lantern Corps) and illustrated by Oliver Nome, Michael Lopez and Livio Ramondelli with a variant cover by Jim Lee.

Several major retailers will be offering pre-order perks to customers, all of them including the ability to play as one of the DC Universe’s iconic characters, Batman! Players will be able to play as the Dark Knight in an exclusive two-on-two (Player-vs.-Player) combat arena. Some participating retailers will include the limited edition comic with pre-orders, and some participating retailers will include a unique in-game iconic weapon for player characters.

For a list of participating retailers and to pre order the game, click on the Pre-Order button at www.dcuniverseonline.com.

The PC version of DC Universe Online is also available for pre-order via Steam® and Direct2Drive® (D2D). Steam customers will receive Bane’s Venom Injector as a pre-order item, while D2D users will get Mr. Freeze’s Zero Grenade.

Beta registration also opens today! Potential superheroes and villains can now register for a chance to get in the beta and flex their muscles, helping to fine tune the game for launch this November! To register for beta access, visit the game website www.dcuniverseonline.com and click on the beta registration link.